Statue: Mary McLeod Bethune (July 10, 1875 – May 18, 1955) Location: Lincoln Park, 12th and East Capitol Streets, SE Dedication: July 10, 1974, 10:30am Sculptor: Robert Berks Cost to Taxpayer: $0, $100,000 raised and contributed by the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) On July 10, 1974, on what would have been Mary Bethune’s…
Author: dcmemorialist
DC Memorialist is run by Fiona Clem, a local historian, licensed DC tour guide, member of the Washington Guild of Professional Tour Guides, and author of Meridian Hill Park, Images of America.
Tomas Garrigue Masaryk
Statue: Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, March 7, 1850 – September 14, 1937 Location: triangle park at Massachusetts and 22nd Street, NW Dedication Ceremony: November 2002 Completion Ceremony: March 8, 2003, 2pm Sculptor: Vincene Makovsky, Czech Cost: $0, $757,000 for the American Friends of the Czech Republic The Masaryk statue was a gift to the United States…
James Cardinal Gibbons
Memorial: James Gibbons (July 23, 1834 – March 24, 1921) Unveiling: August 14, 1932, 3:30 p.m. Location: Sixteen Street and Park Road, NW Sculptor: Leo Lentelli Cost: No cost to the United States, donated by the Knights of Columbus The unveiling coincided with the golden jubilee convention of the Knights of Columbus, who gave dedicated…
Octagon House
The Octagon house is one of the oldest houses in downtown Washington, D.C. The often and easily overlooked house is a beautifully maintained example of an 18th Century house. The Octagon House, at 1799 New York Avenue NW, is actually 6-sided and was designed by William Thornton who also designed the Capital Building, and built…
Bartholdi Fountain
Bartholdi‘s Renaissance-style fountain of cast iron was first exhibited at the International Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876. Congress bought it a year later for $6,000. Its first location was at the base of Capitol Hill to the south of where the Grant Memorial is located. Later it was removed and stored. And in 1932…